| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from In the Cage by Henry James: end. Incontestably she grew to think that the men cut the best
figure; and in this particular, as in many others, she arrived at a
philosophy of her own, all made up of her private notations and
cynicisms. It was a striking part of the business, for example,
that it was much more the women, on the whole, who were after the
men than the men who were after the women: it was literally
visible that the general attitude of the one sex was that of the
object pursued and defensive, apologetic and attenuating, while the
light of her own nature helped her more or less to conclude as to
the attitude of the other. Perhaps she herself a little even fell
into the custom of pursuit in occasionally deviating only for
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: the edge of the rock terrace,--a picturesque little quay, covered with
iris and aquatic plants. She now changed her tactics, thinking she
might catch Pierrette tripping by softness; the hyena became a cat.
"Pierrette," she said, "you are no longer a child; you are nearly
fifteen, and it is not at all surprising that you should have a
lover."
"But, cousin," said Pierrette, raising her eyes with angelic sweetness
to the cold, sour face of her cousin, "What is a lover?"
It would have been impossible for Sylvie to define a lover with truth
and decency to the girl's mind. Instead of seeing in that question the
proof of adorable innocence, she considered it a piece of insincerity.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: "Mrs. Lombard's aunts are very superior women. They subscribe to
the circulating library, and borrow Good Words and the Monthly
Packet from the curate's wife across the way. They have the
rector to tea twice a year, and keep a page-boy, and are visited
by two baronets' wives. They devoted themselves to the education
of their orphan niece, and I think I may say without boasting
that Mrs. Lombard's conversation shows marked traces of the
advantages she enjoyed."
Mrs. Lombard colored with pleasure.
"I was telling Mr. Wyant that my aunts were very particular."
"Quite so, my dear; and did you mention that they never sleep in
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